BUTCHER BABIES: 'If Someone Wants To Judge Us, Screw Them'

Franck Védrines of A.B.D.P. Editions conducted an interview wih BUTCHER BABIES members Carla Harvey (vocals), Henry Flury (guitar) and Heidi Shepherd (vocals) at this year's Hellfest, which was held in June in Clisson, France. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On how they would describe BUTCHER BABIES:

Carla: "BUTCHER BABIES is a metal band. We're different. We set ourselves apart by having two female vocalists. And besides that, we're just a metal band. We don't like to categorize ourselves as any kind of… certain type of metal. We're just a metal band."

Heidi: "A lot of people try and… 'Oh, they're neo-thrash or groove or… I mean, there's so many different kinds that people try and classify us as, but it's impossible, because we're very diverse. We all came from different backgrounds in metal. I'm a nu-metal kid; I grew up loving SLIPKNOT, KORN, LIMP BIZKIT… I love the nu-metal. Henry here is more of the experimental metal… the MESHUGGAH… He brings that influence. Our bass player, Jason [Klein], he loves death metal, so he brings the death metal influence. And our drummer, Chris [Warner], is a hardcore metal kid…"

Story continues after advertisement

Carla: "…a thrash metal/punk rock kid. So we stir that all in one big pot and we make BUTCHER BABIES. And I think it's a unique thing, and that's why we've gotten so far in the last five years — because we're making a sound that's completely different than anyone else. To top it off, like I said, two female vocalists, which hasn't been done in metal."

Heidi: "And another thing, too… I think a lot of people are missing the energy from old thrash bands. The energy on stage, it's captivating. And, I think, over the past ten, fifteen years, besides a few bands here and there, I think that we've been all missing it. So we're trying to, hopefully, bring that back."

On being sexy:

Carla: "I don't think that we think of ourselves… That's the one thing about Heidi and I… I don't think that we think of ourselves as sexy or anything like that. We just do what we do. We are who we are."

Heidi: "I grew up just not the pretty girl at all. I had, basically, lots of freckles, huge ears, a big nose… just a like a boy body, completely. I was an athlete, and I had just nothing… Nothing! My entire life; that's how I grew up. And I was completely made fun of my entire life. I was never the pretty girl. That's not anything I ever was used to. So for people to say that now… I love makeup. I think it's an art form. You should see me without it. It's terrifying. [Laughs] But the thing is, for people to say, 'Oh, they're beautiful,' that's a huge compliment, but that doesn't… The way that I look doesn't define me, and I don't think that that's how metal was first brought into this; it's not about how you look. And we definitely don't use it as a weapon. To us, it's just fun to just get up there and be who we are. I mean, if you see us on stage, we're not out there, like, 'Hey!' [shakes her chest]. We're out banging our heads, we're jumping… We're doing stuff that boys do."

Carla: "We grew up as misfits, and, for us, when we found metal music, it was a place for misfits to go. You know, if you weren't the popular kid, if you weren'the pretty girl, all the metalheads, they took you in anyway; they didn't care what you looked like. So it always makes me laugh when the metalheads now say, 'Oh, they can't play metal. They're too pretty.' It's, like, wait a second. When I was a kid, I found metal because it didn't matter; none of that stuff mattered. But, at the same time, we're not afraid of sexuality, we're not afraid of who we are, we're not afraid of how we look. We don't really care. If someone wants to judge us, screw them."

BUTCHER BABIES' second album, "Take It Like A Man", was released on August 21 via Century Media. The CD was produced by Logan Mader, who has previously worked with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, DEVILDRIVER, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY and GOJIRA.

COMMENTS

To comment on a
BLABBERMOUTH.NET
story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of
BLABBERMOUTH.NET
and
BLABBERMOUTH.NET
does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details.
BLABBERMOUTH.NET
reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).